Ransom Everglades, which opened its boys’ lacrosse season with a 6-4 win over Belen on Tuesday, doesn’t rank — at least not yet — with local powers such as St. Thomas Aquinas, which made it to the state semifinals last season.

“Aquinas is at the top of the food chain right now in Broward or Dade,” said Ransom coach Roy Kelly, who has been coaching lacrosse for three decades. “And Columbus has been the class in Miami.

“We can usually play with Columbus for a while, but then fatigue sets in, and they wear us down. This year, though, we’re a lot deeper. We’ve got some veterans who want to put their stamp on things, and we have some talented young guys.”

One of those veterans is Eddy Garcia-Montes, a 6-2, 180-pound senior who plays center back in soccer, free safety and quarterback in football, and defense in lacrosse.

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Garcia-Montes is also highly intelligent. He has an un-weighted 3.84 GPA, wants to study engineering and has been accepted to MIT, where he will play lacrosse and football (he has been told he will likely switch to wide receiver in college).

MIT, located just outside of Boston, is considered one of the top universities in the country. It’s been said that if you combined the revenues of the companies founded by MIT graduates, you would have the 11th largest economy in the world.

The school has a keen entrepreneurial spirit, and Garcia-Montes canceled a visit to Cal once he got accepted to MIT.

“MIT is a place that truly puts academics ahead of athletics,” said Garcia-Montes, who can envision a career designing airplanes.

For now, he has designs on leading Ransom to a strong playoff run, and the win over Belen only enhanced his positive feelings.

“Coming into the season, I didn’t think much of our chances,” Garcia-Montes said. “But when I saw how all our young guys have progressed … I can see it now.”

Kelly said most lacrosse coaches encourage prospects to play multiple sports in high school, which is what Garcia-Montes has done.

The skill sets he learns in the other sports can be transferred to the lacrosse field.

“He is a hard-working and talented player as far as his stick skill and his clearing ability,” Kelly said. “Because he plays three sports, he sees the field really well.

“If you would have asked me before [the win over Belen], which was his best sport, I might have said football.

“But he continues to impress me in lacrosse. Eventually, he may be a better lacrosse player than a football player.”

Season overview

Key Dates

Monday: Season began.

April 6-10: Districts.

April 17: State first-round play-ins.

April 21: State second-round play-ins.

April 25: State third-round play-ins.

May 1-2: State final four at IMG Academy in Bradenton.

2014 State Champions

Boys: Orlando Lake Highland.

Girls: Vero Beach.

Top girls’ teams

1. St. Thomas Aquinas

2. Pine Crest

3. West Broward

4. Douglas

5. Palmer Trinity

Top boys’ teams

1. St. Thomas Aquinas

2. American Heritage

3. Pine Crest

4. Gulliver

5. Columbus

Boys’ lacrosse preview capsules

CALVARY CHRISTIAN: Coach: Adam Bond; Last year: 7-9; Top players: Hunter Ramsay (jr. D); Colton Coffin (sr. F); Luke Baldis (sr. A); Noteworthy: There are nine returners, 23 newcomers. The last 15 members of the school’s first team in 2011 graduated last year.

SOUTH PLANTATION: Coach: Mike Collins; Last year: 2-13; Top players: Mateo Knight (jr. M); Jarred Lynn (jr. A); Dillon Neir (jr. M); Noteworthy: With a new coaching staff and new players, there is optimism for improvement.

ST. BRENDAN: Coach: Shanahan; Last year: no team; Top players: Carlos Clavijo (jr. M); Gabe Cardona (jr. M); Tristen Fernandez (sr. A); Noteworthy: This is the school’s first lacrosse team. The Sabres will lplay as an independent this year.